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The South Atlantic League announced today that Hickory Crawdads OF Nick Williams and LHP Alexander Claudio have been named the SAL player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for games ending on
Sunday, April 21.Williams, a 2nd round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in the 2012 MLB Draft out of Galveston Ball High School in Galveston Texas, went 13-31 during the week for a .419 batting average. He hit 4 home runs, had 8 runs scored and had 10 runs batted in. Williams hit safely in six of the seven games, and had five multi-hit games.His week was highlighted by a three-hit night against the Charleston RiverDogs on Saturday, April 20, two of which were home runs. The second one was a three-run shot that tied the game 8-8 in the bottom of the 8th inning, after being down 8-2 as late as the 7th inning. The 'Dads went on to win the contest 10-9. In 16 games played in the 2013 season, Williams leads the South Atlantic League with 7 home runs, and is second with a slugging percentage of .676. His .324 batting average, 22 hits, and 16 runs batted in leads all Crawdads batters.Claudio, a 27th round selection by the Texas Rangers in the 2010 MLB Draft out of Isabel Flores High School in Juncos, Puerto Rico, made two appearances for the Crawdads this past week. In his first outing on April 17, he entered the game against the Asheville Tourists in the bottom of the 7th inning and the Crawdads down 5-3. The southpaw pitched four scoreless frames, allowing only one hit and striking out five. He also earned his first win as Hickory rallied and won the game in 10 innings by a score of 6-5. On Sunday, April 21, Claudio again entered in the 7th inning of a tight game, this time a 0-0 affair at home against the Charleston RiverDogs. Claudio pitched three flawless innings, striking out six batters and allowing no base runners. He got his second win of the season as the Crawdads walked off with the 1-0 victory in the bottom of the 9th.The two combined stellar pitching performances gave Claudio a 2-0 record for the week. He had 11 strikeouts, no walks and gave up only one hit in his seven innings of relief work. For the 2013 season, Claudio is 2-1 in five games, all out of the bullpen, with a 2.81 ERA and 22 strikeouts to only three walks over 16 innings pitched.Claudio is the second straight Crawdads reliever to earn SAL pitcher of the week, as RHP Tyler Smith won the award for the week ending on April 14.Williams is the first Crawdads position player to win SAL Batter of the Week since INF Rougned Odor won it for the week of May 21-27, 2012. This also is the first time that the Crawdads won both Batter and Pitcher of the Week since OF Jake Skole and RHP Nick Tepesch earned the accolades for the week of June 6-12, 2011.

NOTES: The Crawdads hit the road tomorrow, visiting Greensboro for a three-game set against the Grasshoppers, before a four-game series in Hagerstown against the Suns. The 'Dads then return to Hickory for a seven-game home stand from May 1-7. The home stand will start with three games against the Asheville Tourists, and conclude with four games against the Savannah Sand Gnats....Individual tickets for all Hickory Crawdads home games are available right now at Hickorycrawdads.com or by calling (828) 322-3000! Group Outings, corporate partnerships, Buffalo Wild Wings Claw Club memberships and Ticket Books are also available right now by calling the Front Office at (828) 322-3000